SAN BERNARDINO -- Tears flow from the eyes of the black-haired boy in a painting that hangs on a downtown office wall.

It's a self portrait. The artist was a prisoner in the California Institution for Men in Chino. He wanted Candy Stallings to have the painting. She's kept it for 20 years.

Stallings is the executive director of the nonprofit San Bernardino County Sexual Assault Services.

"He never wanted me to forget the little boy that he was," Stallings said.

She's seen thousands of sexual assault victims come through her center. Many were victimized at a young age and used drugs to numb the pain. Some end up like the man who gave her the painting.

Fiery orange and red hues surround his likeness as a young boy.

"You can just see the pain in his eyes," Stallings said.

And the compassion in hers.

Stallings answered an ad for volunteers at the agency more than 25 years ago. She ran a balloon store at the time and was taking criminology classes at San Bernardino Valley College.

The agency was located in a small D Street office and operated with a $79,000 budget. Now located on Arrowhead Avenue, the agency has offices in Victorville, Barstow, Yucaipa, Redlands and the Coachella Valley.

Its budget today is around $1 million. A wall of awards in the downtown center includes recognition from former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Stallings sits at her desk underneath the painting. It's a cool Wednesday morning. She feels like she can never do enough for people.

"My goal someday is to end sexual violence," Stallings said. "If you work at a center like this and you don't think you can accomplish that, you need to leave."

Around every corner of the center are reminders of her goal: the children's toys in a reception room; the emergency boxes of clothes for survivors undergoing forensic exams; a victims quilt with personalized messages like "stop the pain" and "keep your head up."

"You never get used to it," Stallings says. "In the field, if you ever get used to it, it's time to get out."

Stallings is a state-certified rape crisis counselor and member of the state Advisory Committee on Sexual Assault Victim Services under the California Emergency Management Agency.

She's heard countless stories from sexual assault survivors. One told her attacker she was praying for him. Another pretended to go insane during an assault.

Both men fled.

Stallings says victims should trust their instincts and do whatever it takes to stay alive.

Hers is a life far-removed from selling balloons.

"It was something where I felt like I found my calling," she said.

That calling was tested early.

"It was horrific," she said. "In training they tell you you're not going to get the worst case on your (first time) out. I got the worst case."

A 5-year-old girl was kidnapped from a playground in Big Bear. The man told her he was a doctor and needed help finding his dog.

He beat her in the face and raped her. Stallings stayed by the girl's bedside for two days.

"I really didn't do anything except sit with her," she said.

Not according to the girl.

As a 16-year-old she visited the woman who helped her through her nightmare.

Stallings recalls her words:

"When I got older, I just remember you were like an angel sitting next to me."